Description
Ditch boring old spaghetti and give this BLT Pasta a try instead!
Ingredients
Scale
- 12 oz spaghetti or bucatini
- Kosher salt
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 2 tbsp olive oil, plus more for drizzling at the end, if you wish
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 8 slices thick-cut bacon, sliced in 1-inch sections
- 1 cup dried panko or homemade bread crumbs
- 1 cup halved red grape tomatoes or other small red tomatoes
- 1 cup halved yellow or orange cherry or pear tomatoes, such as Sun Gold
- 2 big handfuls of arugula or spinach leaves
- 1 big handful basil leaves
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to the package directions. It should remain a little firm when done. Drain the pasta, saving about ½ cup of the cooking water, and pour the pasta into a broad bowl or rimmed platter. Toss the pasta with the cream, oil, and lemon zest.
- Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a heavy skillet over medium heat until it is brown and crisp. Pour off 2 tbsp of the bacon drippings and reserve them.
- Stir the tomatoes into the remaining drippings and sauté over medium heat for 1 minute, just to soften them. Add the tomatoes to the pasta and toss together. Add some of the reserved pasta water if the mixture seems dry.
- Rinse out the skillet, dry it, and add to it the reserved 2 tbsp of bacon drippings. Stir the bread crumbs and toast over medium heat several minutes until golden brown and crisp.
- Scatter bread crumbs over the pasta. Tuck arugula and basil leaves around the pasta. Drizzle with more oil, if you wish. Serve hot or room temperature.